Michael Willie and Lorenz Pereira (now resident in Melbourne) hosted a few past Royal-Thomian cricketers at R.K Samarasinghe’s residence after the Big Match.
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Pic by Ranjith Perera |
Lorenz (Royal’s deputy skipper in 1957) with Michael Willie (Royal captain 1957) made the evening memorable. Dr. Ranjith de Silva (1955), Sarath Samarasinghe (1959), Michael Dias (1960) and Nanda Senanayake (1961) from Royal while the Thomian captains Michael Tissera (1957 and 1958) and Dr. Lareef Idroos (1960) all the way from US, P.I. Pieris and Bertie Wijesinghe were there to recount golden memories.
Eight captains who led their respective teams at the Royal-Thomian encounter along with a few past players from both colleges were under one roof and enjoyed the camaraderie, friendship, nostalgia and memories that go back over half a century. Past cricketers from Royal who were present were Indi Perayerawar, Daya Sahabandu, Ben Eliyathamby, Dr. Harsha Samarajiwa, Mohdi Ismail, Ranjith Samarasinghe, Brian Pereira, Sarath Vidanage and Brendon Gunaratne.
The Thomians to join the festivity were Neil Chanmugam and Ronnie Reid. To add colour to the occasion were three old Royalists - Ken Balendra, Dr. J.C. Fernando and Lakshman Kaluarachi of rugby fame. Above picture is from the gathering.
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